And these are the generations of Jacob. And
Joseph was seventeen years old, feeding the
sheep of his father with his brethren, being
young; with the sons of Balla, and with the
sons of Zelpha, the wives of his father; [a] and
Joseph brought to Israel their father their
evil reproach.

And Jacob loved Joseph
more than all his sons, because he was to
him the son of old age; and he made for him
a coat of many colours.

And his brethren
having seen that his father loved him more
than all his sons, hated him, and could not
speak anything peaceable to him.

And
Joseph dreamed a dream, and reported it to
his brethren.

And he said to them, Hear
this dream which I have dreamed.

I thought
ye were binding sheaves in the middle of
the field, and my sheaf stood up and was
erected, and your sheaves turned round,
and did obeisance to my sheaf.

And his
brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed
reign over us, or shalt thou indeed be lord
over us? And they hated him still more
for his dreams and for his words.

And he
[b] dreamed another dream, and related it to
his father, and to his brethren, and said,
Behold, I have dreamed another dream: as
it were the sun, and the moon, and the eleven
stars did me reverence.

And his
father rebuked him, and said to him, What
is this dream which thou hast dreamed?
shall indeed both I and thy mother and thy
brethren come and bow before thee to the
earth?

And his brethren envied him; but
his father observed the saying.

And his
brethren went to feed the sheep of their
father to Sychem.

And Israel said to
Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed their flock
in Sychem? Come, I will send thee to them;
and he said to him, Behold, I am here.

And
Israel said to him, Go and see if thy brethren
and the sheep are well, and bring me
word; and he sent him out of the valley of
Chebron, and he came to Sychem.

And a
man found him wandering in the field; and
the man asked him, saying, What seekest
thou?

And he said, I am seeking my
brethren; tell me where they feed their
flocks.

And the man said to him, They
have departed hence, for I heard them
saying, Let us go to Dothaim; and Joseph
went after his brethren, and found them
in Dothaim.

And they spied him from a distance before
he drew nigh to them, and they wickedly
took counsel to slay him.

And each said
to his brother, Behold, that dreamer comes.

Now then come, let us kill him, and cast
him into one of the pits; and we will say,
An evil wild beast has devoured him; and
we shall see what his dreams will be.

And
Ruben having heard it, rescued him out of
their hands, and said, Let us not [c] kill him.

And Ruben said to them, Shed not blood;
cast him into one of these pits in the wilderness,
but do not lay your hands upon him;
that he might rescue him out of their hands,
and restore him to his father.

And it
came to pass, when Joseph came to his brethren,
that they stripped Joseph of his
many-coloured coat that was upon him.

And they took him and cast him into the
pit; and the pit was empty, it had not water.

And they sat down to eat bread; and having
lifted up their eyes they beheld, and lo,
Ismaelitish travellers came from Galaad,
and their camels were heavily loaded with
spices, and resin, and [d] myrrh; and they
went to bring them to Egypt.

And Judas said to his brethren, What
profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal
his blood?

Come, let us sell him to
these Ismaelites, but let not our hands be
upon him, because he is our brother and our
flesh; and his brethren hearkened.

And
the men, the merchants of Madian, went
by, and they drew and lifted Joseph out of
the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ismaelites
for twenty pieces of gold; and they brought
Joseph down into Egypt.

And Ruben
returned to the pit, and sees not Joseph in
the pit; and he rent his garments.

And
he returned to his brethren and said, The
boy is not; and I, whither am I yet to go?

And having taken the coat of Joseph,
they slew a kid of the goats, and stained the
coat with the blood.

And they sent the
coat of many colours; and they brought
it to their father, and said, This have we
found; know if it be thy son's coat or no.
And he recognised it, and said, It is my
son's coat, an evil wild beast has devoured
him; a wild beast has carried off Joseph.

And Jacob rent his clothes, and put
sackcloth on his loins, and mourned
for his son many days.

And all his
sons and his daughters gathered themselves
together, and came to comfort
him; but he would not be comforted,
saying, I will go down to my son mourning
to Hades; and his father wept for him.

And the Madianites sold Joseph into
Egypt; to Petephres, the eunuch of Pharao,
captain of the guard.

[a]Or, according to some copies,
they brought an evil report of Joseph, etc.
[b]Gr. saw.
[c]Gr. smite him to the life.
[d]Gr. stacte.
[English translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee
Brenton (1807-1862) originally published by Samuel Bagster & Sons,
Ltd., London, 1851]